Abortion and infanticide

Last fall, an Alberta woman was let off with no jail time for strangling her newborn son. She was given a suspended sentence of three years. She had previously been found guilty by two juries of second degree murder for strangling her newborn baby boy and throwing his body over a fence. Those verdicts were repealed. The Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench justified giving her only a suspended sentence by arguing that Canada’s absence of any law on abortion shows that Canadians are sympathetic to the mother in cases of infanticide.

Judge Joanne Veight said:
“Canada is one of the very few countries in the world that, for the last nearly 25 years, has had no regulation of abortion, even in relation to the third trimester. At a minimum, this reflects the lack of consensus. In my view, it also reflects the fact that while many Canadians undoubtedly view abortion as a less than ideal solution to unprotected sex and unwanted pregnancy, Canadians generally understand, accept and sympathize with the onerous demands pregnancy and childbirth exact from mothers, especially mothers without support.

Concerning infanticide, she said : “Naturally, Canadians are aggrieved by an infant’s death especially at the hands of the infant’s mother, but Canadians also grieve for the mother.”

The pro-life movement has often warned that the legalization of abortion would lead to a devaluation of human life. It would seem this now extends to the life of newborn children.